GENERAL
SANTOS CITY: The Business Permits and License Division (BPLD) of the City
Mayor’s Office is strengthening its policy against the alleged operation of
"fixers," a new release forwarded to Mindanao Pilgrim said.
Started
last Jan. 5, only professionalized bookkeepers and processors are allowed to
transact in the one-stop shop for the business permits and renewals, BPLD head
Geraldine Zamora said.
Zamora
said Mayor Ronnel Rivera strictly ordered the end for fixers during the
business renewal and application season as mandated by the Anti-Red Tape Act of
2007 or RA 9485.
Rivera says he is serious with the matter; he
doesn't want any kind of delays to be caused by these fixers.
Moreover,
he doesn't want any of the local government unit employees to be involved in
these kinds of undertakings, Zamora added, quoting Rivera’s order.
It
can be recalled that the BPLD conducted a seminar in November last year for
designated company and business bookkeepers, processors, and representatives.
The
purpose of the seminar is to identify and regulate the participants, as well as
to orient them regarding the process flow of the one-stop shop.
Those
who failed to attend the seminar were automatically forbidden to perform any
transactions here in the one-stop shop.
Businessmen
who attended the seminar commented it was good because it somehow guaranteed
that everyone will be treated fairly.
The
one-stop shop will last until Jan. 20, as Rivera instructed the involved
departments to extend their services even on weekends if necessary.
The
one-stop shop consolidates every necessary procedure into a single venue to
lessen the expense of money and energy of any processor.
Philhealth,
SSS, Pag-Ibig, and respective barangay offices are positioned in the ground
floor of the One-Stop Building at the back of the Old City Hall to decongest
the lobby of the City Hall.